14 DAY TRIAL // Surveillance cameras are everywhere these days, even at home if you're particularly rich and self-conscious about your protection. Other people might not appreciate being filmed without consent though, which is why artist James Bridle made the Surveillance Spaulder.
In a nutshell, it's a concept piece (for now) that lets you know if there's a surveillance camera nearby by making your shoulder twitch.
It won't actually do much about the camera itself, but at least you'll know if you're being watched or not.
In medieval times, a spaulder was an armor piece that protected a fighter from unanticipated attacks that came from above. In this case, the cameras, the unexpected/non-consented surveillance is considered an attack.
The Surveillance Spaulder uses a 730 nm bandpass filter and a 3.5mm jack connected to the sensor unit to pick up the presence of cameras.
If found, the spaulder sends an electrical impulse into your shoulder, making your muscles twitch. It'll probably make you act all jumpy for a while, but there's nothing to do about that but get used to it.
Then again, it might not, since the spaulder is supposed to feel like a tap on the shoulder. The jolt is sent through electrode-like pads referred to as “transcutaneous electrical nerve” stimulators located on the shoulder blade.
They actually need to be affixed first, and then yor affix the spaulder to your shoulder. Sadly, it'll make you look odd, unless you somehow combine the spaulder with the strap of a backpack or something.
The Spaulder doesn't actually tell you in which direction the camera is, but you can take that as a challenge to develop your observation skills and intuition.
All in all, the Surveillance Spaulder isn't an “ugly t-shirt” (term defined by William Gibson as a theoretical garment so hideous that surveillance cameras can’t stand to look at it) but it will help detect hard-to-see surveillance devices. Not sure if that includes Google Glass or other headsets like it though.